Process of distilling materials



Dec. 6, 1927. 1,651,994

H.- B. CANNON PROCESS OE DISTI-LLI/NG MATERIALS Filed April` ll. 1924 3 fSheetsfSheet l Dec. 6, 1927..

H. B. CANNON PR/GESS OF DISTILLING MATERIALS 3 Sheets-Sheet f /w/f//ffaf I XW QM'MM Patented De 6, 1927.

,um-TED, STATES yPn'rinrr OFFICE. i

maar: n. cannon, or MnrUc'HnN, NEW mnsnx.

PROCESS OF DXSTILLING MATERIALS.

Appiiat'ion mea April 11, 1924. serial' No. 705,720.

This invention relates to a process tor the .distillation of liquid 'and solid materials or compounds, and is particularly lwell adapted for the, purpose of reclaiming, in a commer# enable the foregoingr result to be accom` plished in an eiicient and economical manner. Further and more limited objects of 'i the. invention willv be set forth hereinafter in ..15'- connection -with the detailed description of myprocess and of the apparatus by which f the same. is realized, the said apparatus be-V .ing 'shown in the accompanying drawings,

wherein Fig. 1 represents a vertical sectional ZOvieWY corresponding to the Yline 1 1 of F 1g.

'2;.and-Figs. 2, 3 and 4 ,sectional views cor responding respectively to the lines 2 2, 3-3 ind- 4 pf Fig. l.

' l'The aIl paratus by means of Awhich my r process i realized consists generally of a re- 'tort having therein a reactlon chamber, the walls of which are formed of material of high heat-radiating quality, a recuperative tower extending above and providing anextension of the said chamber and arranged to y discharge into such reaction chamber material supplied to said tower; means within the said retort for heating the radiating walls of f the said chamber; also meansfor recupera- :15 tively heating the air employed to support the combustion of the fuel employed to heat' such walls.

Describing the various parts by reference characters, A denotes the retort generally, i0 the samebeing made in the form of a thick casing of any standard refractory material and having the reaction chamber B therein, the said chamber extending from near the top to near the bottom of the casing and from end to end thereof, being delined by and bctween walls 1 of refractory material, such'as silicon carbide, having high heat-radiating qualities.l

Located on opposite sides ot' the sidewalls 1 and spaced therefrom and arranged preferably r arallel therewith are walls 2, also prefers. ly of silicon carbide. Each wall 2 y is-located in a chamber C on each side of the chamber B .'and extends from the bottom'of 55. such chamber C nearly to the. top thereof,

ench Wellbeingbracd and held 1.11-y proper' relation to the adjacent Wall l and the 0pposite side of its chamber C by means of supporting and stabilizing proj cctions 3.

The walls 2 divide `their chambers C into ascending and descending iiues et and 5, respectively. The bottom ot cach liuc 5 communicates by means of lateral passages 6 with 'the bottom transverse iiue 7 of a ver` tical series of such'ues, the lowermost flue communicating at one end with the flue im-l mediately thereabo've and the latter flue communicating at its opposite end with thc next iiue thcreabove, and so on. Each uppermost flue 7 communicates with an outlet- 8 deliv- (not shown). i

located a gas supply pipe '9, each pipe having nipples 10.

erlng the products to the stack In the bottom of each flue 4 is projecting upwardly therefrom and serving to discharge gas into the lower portions of the said lines.

The air for supporting combustion 4in the fines 4 is conducted thereto through a vertical series of transversely extending air-heating iiues located within the casing A and be tween the outer sidesthereof and the liues 7; Air is supplied through ducts 12, located on opposite sides of and adjacent to the bottom of the chamber B, the said ducts extending from one end of the casing nearly to the opposite end thereof and communicating each by an outwardly extending duct 12 with a vertically extending duct'12", the ducts12b being located adjacent to opposite sides of the casing A, respectively, and each discharging through a .port 14j into th'e'uppermost flue 13 of a vertical series of such llues, the series of flues being arranged on opposite sides of the casing The air ad# mitted to each upper flue is conducted therethrough from one end to the other thereof and from such last-mentioned-end to the ad' jacent end of the iiue therebeneath, through such second .liuc to the adjacent end of the flue therebeneath, and so o n to the lowermost flue of eachfseries, the air being circulated through the flues 13 counter-current `to the flow ofjtheproducts of combustion through l the liues 7.

The bottom -ofeach of the lowermost flues.

1,3 communicates by inwardly extending passages or fines 15 with the bottom of the -cooperating' flue 4, thereby delivering recuperatively heated vair in operative relation tothe nipples 10 ,to mix with the gas-.delivered therefrom and to su port the combustion ofthe gas Within the ues 4 and 5,

It will be noted that the chamber B ex,

tends downwardly below the chamber C' and that the bottom of this chamber is closed by@ means of a suitable door or doors 16 (pre'f-' crably of cast iron) extending transversely of the structure A. Above th bottom of the chamber B andon each sidehereof and V below thepassages Jl are pipesA 17 each procuperative tower D. This tower comprises an inner wall 19, preferably of 4cast iron or steel construction and of the same cross section as the chamber B, said wall being provided with a bottom flange 19 resting upon a base support 20. The upper end of the tower wall is anged outwardly, as shown at 19, providing seats' with the lower flange for the reception ot insulatinrr material 21.

Fitted within the top 0i' the tower is a cover 22. Projecting through this cover and extending substantially the full length of the tower, from front to rear, is adistributing feeder 23 which,' in' the embodiment shown herein, communicates at its upper end with feeding mechanism 24 for pulverized material, such as coal. Projecting through the cover 22 and communicating with the top of the space or chamber within the tower is a series oi outlet pipes25 for the urpose of conducting volatile products rom such tower to a suitable container or to the point of use. Y

With the parts described and arranged as hereinbcfore set forth, my process will be carried out in the following manner, referring, for purposes of illustration, to the treatment of coal: The mixture of gas and air will be ignited at the bottoms of the fines 4, heating the walls l whicluby virtue of the material of which they are composed, will quickly and ctl'ectively heat the chamber B b radiation. The products of combustion in t eir passage to the outlets 8 will recu peratively heat the air supplied through the flues 13 to the bottoms of the tlues 4.

Pulverized coal, being distributed, at a. rate predetermined by the lfeeding mechanism, through the elongated distributor duct 23 into the top of the chamber 'provided within the tower will be subjected to a heated atmosphere produced by the steam and by the volatile' fluids evolved from `particles which have been treated by such steam. The coal (or other material to be treated) will fall to the bottom of the chamber B, beingJ held in retarded products liberated from the aangaat .tire tower there willbe some devolatiliz. tion ofthe coal at a temperature gradient4 of:` appggximately 1000Q F. at the bottom of -h tower to not less than 212o F. at the t As'the tine particles of coal (or other m terial treated) fall slowly through the tower and chamber B, they are subjected to a gradually increasing temperature `which reaches its maximum adjacent to the top nl" the chamber B. Owing to the fact that the` steam admit-ted to the bottom portion nl chamber B is ordinary low-pressure sain,- rated steam, as distinguished from supe:iv heated steam, it serves to produce a substao tially uniform temperature in the mixture "il of steam and volatile products throughout said chamber, which temperature is that at. which a coal will yield up its maximum of light volatiles without cracking the same. As the particles fall through the chamber ld, they are subjected to radiant heat from the walls i, being swept and scrubbed by the ascending mixture ot' steam with the volatile particles more below.

The radiant heat delivered to thefalliuf particles causes the latter to superlieat the steam to the maximum temperature desired for the subsequent distilling operation, which is mainly effected in the tower D. This distillation will be substantially completed by the time the particles reach the upper part ot the chamber B, after which the main function of the particles will `be to receive heat by radiation from the Walls l and deliver the saine by convection t0 the ascending mixture of steam and volatile products.

Meanwhile the volatile products which:

have been evolved by reason of the passage of thel particles through the tower V1') and chamber B will be delivered through the pipes 25 to the point of reclamation, use or storage. f

Except for the possible periodical suspension of operations required for the removal of the. accumulated solid material from the bottom of the chamber B, the proce is continuous. The finely divided material supplied to the upper end of the tower D is subjected to an increasing temperature from the top of such tower to the bottom thereof and, in its passage through such tower and the chamber B, is subjected to the action of' the steam, aswell as to the action of heated Vvolatile products and to radiant heat from the walls l in the chamber B.

While I have described my process a." applicabletothe distillation of coal at con1- paratively low temperatures, it is also applicable to the like treatment of other mate rais, such as oil shale, petroleum, and carbonizable or carbonaceus colloidal materials. ,It will be evident that the retarding of glravitational suspensionv of the particles b at e ascendin heated fluid will'prolon'g -t e"` time require for theirdescent from the top of the tower to the bottom-'of the reaction chamber with a correspondingly longer exposure to the distilling conditions within such tower and chamber and will thus ensure their distillation and required. temperature elevation b the time'of their arrival at the bottom of t e reaction chamber.

Furthermore, instead of introducing coal or like solid material in .a pulverized o r finel divided condition, the material to be dist' ed may befed in as an amalgam in thinribbon form. Other variations' in the material'nd mode ofifeeding the same into the recuperative tower will suggest them- A selves to those skilled in the art, Iand such variations are within the scope of my 1n- -vention.

, No-cla'm'l is made herein to the apparatus, it being intended to protect the same by 'means of'a separate wending application.

r Having thus descri I claim is I 1. The process of evolving volatile products from carbonaceous material which'consista in dropping said material in a finelymy invention, what divided condition through an elongated verticalA chamber; introducing llow-pressure saturated steam intosaidy chamber adjacent to the bottom thereof; heating the steam by radiation from the Walls of the lower portion of said chamber to a temperature suilicient to eifect low-temperature distillation in the .tical gchamber; 4introducing low-pressure saturated steam into said chamber adjacent to the bottom thereof; subjecting the steam and the particles in the lower portion of said chamber to radiant heat from the walls of suchmportion,I whereby the steam is superl heat by such radiant heat and by convection. from the particles in such lower ortion and the steam and such gaseous 'pro ucts as are evolved from such particles in such lower portion are heated to a temperature suicient to effect low-temperature distillation in the uplper portion of said chamber; and passing .t

material inthe upper portion of the said chamber being heated only by the gases passing therethrough and by such incidental radiation as it may receive from the lower portion, of said chamber.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aix my signature.

HIRAM- B. CANNON.

Is steamand gaseous products thus i j heated upwardly through the chamber, the 

